Michael Schellman

Box 7211
OT 211 Genesis / Vogt
Spring 2007

Genesis 1:1-2:3:
Its Usefulness in Engaging
Ancient and Modern Cosmologies
 Genesis 1:1-2:3
1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, 2 but the earth was formless and empty, and

darkness covered the face of the abyss, and the spirit of the Lord hovered over the face of the waters. 3 Then

God said, “Let there be light.” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then God made

a division between the light and the darkness, 5 and God called the light “day” and the darkness he called

“night”; and there was an evening and a morning, a first day. 6 Then God said, “Let there be a barrier

between the waters; and let there be a space separating the waters above and the waters below”. 7 So God

made the barrier separating the waters below the barrier from the waters above it, and so it was. 8 And God

called the barrier “heavens”: and there was an evening and a morning, a second day. 9 Then God said “Let
10
the waters below the heavens be gathered to one place and let dry land appear.” And it was so. And God
11
called the dry land “earth” and the gathered waters he called “seas,” and God saw that it was good. Then

God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, seed bearing plants, and trees, bearing fruit with its seed in it,
12
according to its species on the earth, and so it was. So the earth brought forth vegetation, seed bearing
13
plants, and trees, bearing fruit with its seed in it, according to its species. And God saw that it was good.
14
then there was an evening and a morning, a third day. Then God said, “Let there be luminaries in the

barrier of the heavens, to separate the day from the night; and let them indicate signs, and seasons, days,

and years. 15 and Let the luminaries in the heavens shine upon the earth.” And so it was. 16 Then God made

two great luminaries, the greater one luminary to rule the day, and the lesser one to rule the night, and also

the stars. 17 God put them in the barrier of the heavens to shine upon the earth, 18 to govern the day and the
19
night, and to separate the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. Then there was an
20
evening and a morning, a fourth day. Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living
21
creatures, and flying creatures to flutter over the earth and against the boundary of the heavens. So God

created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters teem, according
22
to its species, and every flying creature according to its species. And God saw that it was good. And

God blessed them saying, “Be fruitful, increase and fill the waters in the sea.” And let the birds increase on
the earth. 23 Then there was an evening and a morning, a fifth day. 24
Then God said, “Let the land produce

living creatures according to their species: livestock, and creeping creatures, and wild animals each

according to its species.” And so it was.

25
So God made the wild animals according to their species, and the livestock according to their species,

and the creeping creatures according to their species. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said,

“Let us make a humanity in our image and likeness, to govern the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the

heavens, the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping creature that creeps on the earth.” 27 So

God created humanity in his own image. In the image of God He created; with male and female he created

humanity. 28 Then God blessed them. And God said to them, “be fruitful, increase and fill the earth and

subdue it, govern the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the heavens, the livestock, over all the earth,

and over every creeping creature that creeps on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “See, I have given you every

seed bearing plant on the face of the entire earth, and every tree bearing fruit with the seed in it; it will be

food to you, 30 and to every living creature on the earth, and to every flying creature of the heavens and to

every creeping creature that creeps upon the earth; everything that has life, I have given all vegetation for
31
food.” And so it was. And God saw everything that he had made, and saw that it was very good. Then

there was an evening and a morning, the sixth day. 2:1 So the heavens and the earth were finished and their

entire host. 2 And by the seventh day God had finished the work he had done; and he rested, on the seventh

day, from all the work which he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day, and consecrated it, because in

it he rested from all his work which God had done in creation.
 Word Count 2789

Introduction

The account of the creation week (Genesis 1:1-2:3,) stands, appropriately at the

beginning of the first book in the Hebrew and the Christian Cannon. It is foundational to

both traditions’ theological self-understanding and worldview. However, growing

skepticism since the Enlightenment has shifted our attention from formative theological

issues to critical and apologetic ones. Rather than providing a framework from which

people of faith can engage their world, the passage itself has come to be the topic of

debate.

It is my contention, that as we learn the lessons about who God was revealing

himself to be in the context of the ancient Israelites, these same lessons will also inform

our interaction with the modern cosmologies of contemporary science. The result will

be, not a faith “under the microscope” but rather, a lens through which we as believers

can explore our universe with science, enthusiastically embracing some of its conclusion

while, remaining critical of others, with the ultimate anticipation that the end result of our

human quest for understanding will eventually lead us to the same goal.

Form and Structure

Genesis 1:1-2:3 is a densely structured composition. Gordon Wenham’s

commentary provides a thorough analysis of its many structural features.1 The overall

1
Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1-15. Word Biblical Commentary 1 pp 5-7
form of the passage is chiastic, but several other structural characteristics are embedded

within the passage as well. The narrative structure for instance, highlights the third and

sixth days of the creation week, which are indicated by a double announcement of the

divine word, and a double statement of the approval formula. This creates a pattern

which pairs day 1 and 4, 2 and 5, 3 and 6.

Wenham also notes that the narrative also has two poles: the heavens, and earth.

The focus of the chapter moves from the heavens to the earth, ending with an extended

presentation of humanity. The palistrophic pattern which reverses the terms heaven and

earth, between day three and day four, also highlight this middle section, the day God

creates luminaries (sun, moon, and stars,) which is the second largest descriptive section.

Finally, Wenham notes ubiquity of the number seven in the text. The

correspondence of 1:1-2 and 2:1-3 are highlighted, by the fact that the number of words

in each is multiples of seven. God is mentioned 35 times (7x5). Earth is mentioned 21

times. The barrier of the heavens 21 times; and the phrases, “and so it was” and “God

saw that it was good” each appear seven times.

We will deal with the significance of these structural elements later, but now let

us now make an examination of some cosmological assumptions from the ancient near

east, and from modern scientific observation and see how the scriptures address their

conclusions.
 ANE Cosmology Belief #1:
Polytheism and Eternal Matter

Lines 1-4 of the Enuma Elish, state that there were two beings present at the

foundation of the world, Apsu and Tiamat.2 They were not only the parents of the god’s

but also represented living uncreated world matter; Apsu was the primeval sweet-water

ocean, and Tiamat the primeval saltwater ocean.3 Matter, from the Babylonian point of

view, was in some sense divine, and eternal.

While the Enuma Elish pictures this matter as a primeval ocean, different

Mesopotamian traditions represent it in other forms. The Theogony of Dunnu begins with

Plough marrying Earth and together they produce Sea. In yet another text, it is Anu the

sky-god, who creates the sky which creates the earth.4 Of these varying traditions,

however, the consensus is that matter is eternal if not the embodiment of the divine.

Biblical Response

The opening expression of Gen 1:2 is ~yhil{a/ ar"B'

tyviarEB.. The first thing to note here is that it states the creative act was
performed by a singular God. While the word Elohim is in plural form and might be

translated “gods,” the verb bara, which is singular, removes this ambiguity. At the

beginning of the Jewish and Christian cannon, there is only one God standing alone, who

is responsible for creation.

Did God create matter or did it always exist? ~yhil{a/ ar"B'

tyviarEB., suggests four possible interpretations. 5

Three of these imply the
2
Myths From Mesopotamia p 233
3
Heidel, Alexander. The Babylonian Genesis p 88
4
Myths From Mesopotamia p 278-279
5
Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1-15. Word Biblical Commentary 1 p 11
presence of pre-existent chaotic matter. Two do this by making v1 a temporal

subordinate clause to v2 or v3, in other words, not “in the very beginning” but “in the

beginning of God’s creative activity”. A third suggests that v1 is a main clause,

summarizing the verses which follow. “In the beginning God created etc. (and here’s

how) Now the earth was formless … and God said.” The fourth interpretation, which also

makes v 1 the main clause, proposes that God first created chaotic matter out of nothing,

and then ordered it. This is the traditional interpretation. It is the one I attempt to

highlight in my use of the vav consecutive in

vv 1:1-3. “In the beginning God created ….but the earth was formless and empty…then

God said…”

Those who would take v1 as a temporal subordinate clause to v2 or 3 argue that

this cannot be referring to The Beginning, because the absence of the definite article,

means that tyviarEB. must be taken in construct form with the verb ar"B'.

However, Heidel states that terms like tyviarE, when used in adverbial expressions,

almost invariably occur without the definite article, and that in the absolute state.6

Those who make an argument for the presence of pre-existent chaotic matter,

assume that the author of Genesis cannot have a worldview that diverges too greatly from

other ANE cultures, that in fact the Genesis account is modeled after Mesopotamian

creation accounts. But Heidel further argues, that if the author of Genesis chapter one had

intended to begin his account with a subordinate clause, styled after other Mesopotamian

creation accounts, he could have used the Hebrew equivalent of the Babylonian enuma,

6
Heidel, Alexander. The Babylonian Genesis p 92
or Sumerian ud-da, which would be ~wyb, meaning “in the day” or simply

“when.”7

If the Bible is a polemic, it is not copying but countering the claims of other

ancient near eastern cosmologies, and attempting to show that its God is greater. The

Bible affirms the ANE belief in the divine and that the world has its source in the divine.

But it refutes the belief that there is more than one god or that matter is somehow eternal.

Rather, it claims there is one God, and He is the source of everything that exists.

Modern Cosmology #1: The Big Bang

In 1929, Edwin Hubble discovered, that wherever you look, distant galaxies are

moving rapidly away from us.8 We live in an expanding universe, and if the universe is

expanding, you can reasonably assume that there was once a time when everything was

in the same place. Given the unbelievable density and gravitational strength of such a

consolidation, there must have been some great power, like a giant explosion, that

caused the present expansion. Thus the theory of the big bang was born. Given the

present distance and the rate of recession scientists calculate the age of the universe to

be about ten or twenty thousand million years old.

Biblical Response

If our former analysis is correct tyviarEB., does mean “The Beginning”.

The fact that the bible claims that there is a beginning (that time, matter, and the universe

are not eternal,) means that scientific cosmology is in agreement with the bible on this

7
Heidel, Alexander. The Babylonian Genesis p 95
8
Hawking, Steven. A Brief History of Time p 8
point at least. One thing which we should give some consideration, however, is the

implied age of the universe.

The bible does not tell us the age of the universe, or even the earth, though some

have tried to imply its age through genealogies and known dates reported in biblical texts.

The, sometimes truncated, nature of the genealogies found in the scriptures prevents us

from making an accurate calculation. Furthermore, such formulae rest on the assumption

that the creation week consisted of six literal days plus one day of rest. If we take an

exegetical look at the creation week we will see that it is not as straight forward as it

appears.

The word used for day, ~Ay yom, is not used the same way everywhere in the

old testament. Just a brief search of Genesis will reveal that in 1:14 yom is used to refer to

the period of light and dark established by the earth and its relation to the sun and moon.

But chapter 2:4 uses the word yom in another way, here it means “day” in an inclusive

sense that alludes to the whole creation week, which was already reported as seven

“days.” Another summary use is in Genesis 5:1-2. The word yom does not always signify

a literal 24 hour period.

We must also consider that the sun, moon, and stars by which we measure the

length of days and seasons are not created until day four. We are clearly not talking

about evening and morning as they are measured on earth. Furthermore, if we were to

leave the earth and spend a day on another planet in our solar system, the length of a day

would be different. One day on Venus for instance, is the equivalent of 243 earth days

just 18 days longer than its year.9 The length of a day depends on where you stand.

What is the length of a day from where God stands?

9
Hey, Nigel. Solar System p 177
 Another thing to consider is that all but the last two of the seven days of creation

are marked by cardinal numbers, lacking the definite article, while most English

translations insist on translating them as ordinal numbers. Steinmann notes that cardinal

numbers are occasionally used as ordinals, but this only has precedent when counting the

days of a month or the years of a king’s reign. And the use of cardinal numbers in a list of

countables is unattested elsewhere in the Old Testament.10 The use of cardinal numbers

may imply that the creative days were not in immediate succession of each other, and

may not be in their actual order of occurrence.

Furthermore, the use of the number seven may not be literal. If we revisit the

structural comment on the preponderance of sevens in the text, we might assume that the

author is in fact be trying to emphasize the overall perfection and completeness of the

created order. A fact that is mirrored by the closing statement which appears at the end

of each creative day, “and God saw that it was good.”

Arvid Kapelrud draws several conclusion about the use of the number seven in

ANE cultures from Ugaritic texts.11 1. For some unknown reason, the number seven is

considered a dangerous and powerful throughout the ancient near east. 2. Seven is a

round number used to designate an unspecified quantity. 3. Seven was used to indicate

intensity, and quality, but not directly quantity. 4.Seven may also indicate fulfillment,

completion, finishing. If we pair some of Kapelrud’s conclusions about the number

seven with narrative elements in the text, we can get a sense of how the author us using

the number seven.

10
Steinmann, Andrew E. dxa as an Ordinal Number, And the Meaning of Genesis 1:5 p 582
11
Kapelrud, Arvid S. The Number Seven In Ugaritic Texts p 499
 The seven days represent the fact that creation is divine action involving powerful

forces, also reflected in the creative words God speaks. The seven days may not indicate

literal days, but may only be a round number, representative of the period of time over

which God created. It may also be a convenient way of summarizing all the categories

that constitute the known world. The seven days also indicate the quality of goodness of

creation, reflected in the repeated phrase “and God saw that it was good”. Finally seven

emphasizes the completeness or fullness of God’s creation, this is reflected by the

emphasized “very good” and the Sabbath rest on the seventh day.

ANE Cosmology Belief #2:

The Creation of Humanity, It’s Place in the Universe

Atrahasis and the Enuma Elish, both envision humanity as slaves to the gods.

Humanity is created to relieve the god’s of their toil. In each of these instances, a god is

slain and his blood is used in the process. Atrahasis has the additional elements of a

mother or midwife goddess Mami who mixes the blood with clay to make human

beings.12

Biblical Response

In Gen. 1:1-2:3 the author uses several means to demonstrate that humanity was

created for a noble purpose. The palistrophic pattern, mentioned above, with its heavenly

and earthly poles has two focal points. The first is the hierarchical progression from the

heavens to the earth with the strong emphasis on humanity. The second is the central

reversal of the terms heaven and earth which highlight the fourth day of creation, which

is the second longest creative day. These emphasis are significant in that it reverses

12
Myths From Mesopotamia p 4
ancient near eastern assumptions about the created order, where stars were worshiped and

humanity were considered to be slaves of the gods.

Secondly, humanity is said to be created in the image and likeness of God. This

image is not image in a corporeal sense, because nowhere is God said to have a body.

This is another departure from ANE accounts. How then are we to take the “image of

God?” Wenham lists five main solutions.13 Of these five possibilities the last two carry

the most weight. Image is a reference to the fact that humanity is to be God’s

representative, and image is a reference to humanities ability to relate personally to God

as a spiritual being. The immediate context favors both these interpretations in that

humanity is given the responsibility to govern (Gen 1:26), and human beings are the only

beings of his creation which he addresses directly (Gen. 1:28-30).

The author of the creation week is in essential agreement with religions of the

ancient near east, in their assertion that human beings were created by divine initiative,

and that in them is something of the divine. It has much in common with Atrahasis which

asserts that there is something of the earth in us as well. It even is in agreement that there

is a purpose for humanity, but here is where they it differs. The author of Gen 1:1-2:3

portrays a God that relates to humanity, and blesses it. A God who’s honors it by

allowing it to bear His image and govern as his representative.

Modern Cosmology #2:

Evolution and its Implications.

The theory of evolution began with four observations upon his return from his

voyage on the Beagle. 1. The forms of living creatures seem to be adapted to their needs;

2. Some creatures are known to have died out altogether. 3. The uneven distribution of

13
Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1-15. Word Biblical Commentary 1 pp 29-30
life-forms throughout the world, and the peculiarity of island populations. 4. Many

creatures posses “rudimentary structures” which serve no apparent purpose (e.g. nipples

on male mammals, wings on flightless birds, pelvis and hind limbs in snakes).14 Darwin

proposed that the best answer to this question is biological evolution. That life in its

varied forms evolved through the process of natural selection. Darwin’s hypothesis was

further vindicated by the discovery of the gene in the late 19th and early 20th century.15

The creation account appears to emphatically imply that God created the various

kinds of creatures on different days; fish and birds on day 5, animals and humans on day

6. It also states that they are created in order to reproduce “according to their species.”

One could assume the position that this precludes the possibility of evolution. One could

also assume the position that the seven days are symbolic of the totality of the known

world, and that the categories are broken down in a way that makes sense to the ancient

near eastern mind.

One conclusion that we must not take away from this, is that life is here as a result

of blind chance. The text is very explicit about God’s intention. It is represented in the

structure which pairs day 1 and 4, 2 and 5, 3 and 6, moves beyond the narrative’s report

of God as creator to highlight God as provider for the needs of his creatures. The

dependency of the creatures made on days 4 – 6 upon the environments created in days 1

– 3 demonstrate God’s forethought and his orientation is towards his creatures. The sense

of purpose represented by the image and likeness bestowed on humanity, also argues

against a nihilistic worldview.

Conclusion

14
McGrath, Alister. Dawkins’ God p 22 - 23
15
ibid p 30-31
 This is a topic which warrants much deeper consideration and research. Science

has the power to give the people of God a much greater sense of wonder about the world

they live in, but its methodology, which limits itself to strict empiricism, may not always

see things “properly” from a religious point of view. We must also be careful, as

interpreters, to be open to all the possibilities that the text will allow, while still

maintaining our fidelity to the Bible as the word of God.

 Bibliography

Bruggemann, Walter. Genesis, Interpretation. Atlanta: John Knox Press. 1982

Hawking, Steven. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. New York: Bantam 1989

Heidel, Alexander. The Babylonian Genesis: The Story of Creation 2nd ed. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press 1951.

Hey, Nigel. Solar System. United Kingdom: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2005

Kapelrud, Arvid S. The Number Seven In Ugaritic Texts. Vetus Testamentum 18.04 pp 495-499

McGrath, Alister. Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. MA: Blackwell 2005

Myths From Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others, ed. Dalley, Stephanie. Oxford:
Oxford World’s Classics, 2000

Steinmann, Andrew E. dxa as an Ordinal Number, And the Meaning of Genesis 1:5. Journal of the
Evangelical Theological Society 45.04 (December 2002). pp 577-584

Walton, John H. Ancient Israelite Literature in its Cultural Context: A survey of Parallels Between Biblical
and Ancient Near Eastern Texts. Grand Rapids. Zondervan 1989

Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1-15. Word Biblical Commentary1. Waco: Word, 1987